Category: The Meeting Place Online Discussion

In his book 1984 George Orwell described the “Ministry of Truth”, in fact a “ministry” of pure propaganda.  It is a truism that the truth is the first casualty of any war.  The question is “Whose propaganda?” The story of the Donbass region of Ukraine has been badly told- or at least important elements missed…

“Blessed are you poor” said Jesus.  “God’s kingdom belongs to you.  But woe to you who are rich, you have had your consolation” (Luke 6, verses 20 and 24).  That was the Gospel reading for one Sunday in February (13th).  It’s clear enough what he meant in the context of his own day.  According to…

Events in Downing Street and the Police etc raise questions about today’s standards in public life.   Institutional racism and sexism in the Metropolitan Police may be “hang-overs” from a time before society’s attitudes changed, or a reaction again a so-called “woke” agenda.  But either way have not been dealt with or even recognised.   The old…

Summary We discussed the way many societies, when they feel under threat by something they do not fully understand, make a political shift to a more authoritarian, “right-wing” style of government, choosing leaders who claim to be able to simplify and solve problems for them, so avoiding the hard work of analysis which is needed…

The Church of England, it seems, is having a debate with itself about the future of traditional parishes alongside more informal, lay-led worshipping communities: ‘A church without walls’: Anglicanism divided on shift away from tradition | Anglicanism | The Guardian Although the Church vehemently denies abandoning “old-style” and sometimes (though by no means always) ailing…

On October 31st 1517, Martin Luther is said to have nailed 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenburg in Germany (although some say he simply sent them to the Archbishop). Those Theses provoked what is known today as the Protestant Reformation. Since the time of Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses Paul’s letters to the Romans…

Polyarchy??  Oligarchy I recognise, and monarchy, and even anarchy, but who are you? (with apologies to Acts 19:15).  The word was (first?) used in the mid-1970s, but “Promoting Polyarchy” is the title of a book published in 1996, written by William I. Robinson, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee.  In it…

Recently there has been plenty of discussion about reviving the UK economy after Covid to create new (and “greener”) jobs, especially to “level up” former “Red Wall” parts of the country, and “Build Back Better”.  One solution gaining interest and scrutiny is Universal Basic Income, through schemes which guarantee everyone enough for their minimum needs….

DEVELOPMENTS IN YEMEN – 2021 One of the first insights into new developments in the Middle East in 2021 and of the foreign policy of the new President Biden, specifically in the area, has come in his announcements on Yemen. As Pierson puts it however, just because the US President says a war has ended,…

Wymington Chapel has a congregation of about a dozen people.    From Easter 2021 we have been alternating on Sunday mornings with St Lawrence Parish Church:  normally at St Lawrence on the 1st and 3rd Sundays in the month, at 9.30 am, and usually Eucharists, with occasional services of Morning Prayer.  On the 2nd and…